Students will shift to Internet format after 90.3 FM changes hands.

One of the few Lehigh Valley radio stations to showcase the talents of local musicians is about to go silent.

WXLV 90.3 FM, broadcast from Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, has been sold, according to documents submitted to the Federal Communication Commission.

Religious broadcaster Four Rivers Community Broadcasting Corp. is buying the station from LCCC for $705,000, the documents show.

Four Rivers, a nonprofit, told the FCC it plans to base its studio in Sellersville and turn the station into a satellite of WBYO 88.9 FM. WBYO is part of the Word FM Radio Network, which plays contemporary Christian music through a half dozen stations in eastern Pennsylvania.

LCCC spokesman Sean Dallas said the school's curriculum, which includes course work in music and sound production, will not be affected because the school will maintain its studio and continue to operate a station with same call letters — albeit one that broadcasts via the Internet on iHeartRadio, which is owned by Clear Channel Broadcasting Inc.

"Not a lot of change for our students," he said.

But the same can't be said for local musicians who have relied on WXLV to build their fan bases, according to Gloria Domina, president of Lehigh Valley Music Awards.

"It's a big deal for the community … It's one more local outlet they won't have," she said. "A lot of our musicians got followings from being on the station."

LCCC, which has operated WXLV since 1983, began exploring the sale of its broadcast license in 2011 as a way to offset a $1.3 million reduction in state funding. It had the license appraised at that time.

The school's board of trustees voted unanimously to approve the sale in September, and the deal was closed in November.

In addition to raising money through the sale of the station, the school also will save money because it will no longer have to maintain its antenna and tower, Dallas said.

Four Rivers founder and President Charles Loughery said the 90.3 signal was appealing because his network controls full-strength stations both north and south of the Lehigh Valley, but not within it. Its low-wattage 103.5 FM signal broadcasts from Center Valley but does not have a far reach, he said.

"The Lehigh Valley is kind of like the center of our coverage area, and yet we didn't have a solid signal there," he said. "It will fill in the gap."

At the moment, WXLV retains its place at 90.3 on the FM dial, and its eclectic mix of rock, blues, bluegrass and classical music is still on the air. But Dallas said that will end by late March, at which point, 90.3 will go silent for a week or so.

When 90.3 is then resurrected, it will be in its new incarnation — broadcasting the Word.